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FirstEnergy to Close Two Coal-Fired Plants in Pennsylvania

The smoke stacks at American Electric Power's (AEP) Mountaineer coal power plant in New Haven, West Virginia, October 30, 2009. In cooperation with AEP, the French company Alstom unveiled the world's largest carbon capture facility at a coal plant, so called 'clean coal,' which will store around 100,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year 2,1 kilometers (7,200 feet) underground.

FirstEnergy, a power company based in Akron, Ohio, will shutter two coal-fired plants in Pennsylvania next week, the Associated Press reports.

James Lash, president of FirstEnergy, said the looming threat of government regulations to limit carbon emissions from existing power plants played a role in the decision to close the plants, as did lowered consumer demand and a weak market for electricity.